Parole Ruling Throws Out Smith's Opinion

TALLAHASSEE — Prison inmates serving more than one sentence can be paroled before their final term starts, the Florida Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

The opinion will affect dozens of inmates, including an Orlando man, whose parole dates were delayed after Attorney General Jim Smith issued an opinion that changed the way the Florida Probation and Parole Commission had computed parole for more than 40 years.

The Supreme Court said Smith's opinion was a reasonable interpretation of the law but did not represent the intent of the Legislature, which was restated during the 1985 legislative session.

The commission always had considered consecutive sentences as if they were one sentence. For example, if a prisoner were sentenced to two consecutive five-year terms, the commission computed the parole as if the sentence were one 10-year term.

In the opinion Feb. 13, Smith said inmates on consecutive sentences -- terms to be served one after the other -- have to serve their entire first term before they could be considered for parole. To do otherwise, Smith said, would make consecutive sentences meaningless.

Since adopting the Smith opinion, the commission changed the parole dates of 90 inmates, including that of Robert Lowry, an Orlando man who was serving consecutive sentences for robbery and aggravated assault.

Lowry, 29, was set to leave the Kissimmee Correctional Center on Feb. 26, his scheduled parole date, when he was told that his release would be delayed until his first term was completed.

Through Tallahassee attorney Baya Harrison, Lowry appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that the commission had breached a contract signed a year earlier. The agreement between Lowry, the commission and the state Department of Corrections outlined conditions Lowry needed to meet for parole. Lowry complied with all the conditions.

However, shortly after the appeal was filed, lawmakers passed a bill allowing the parole commission to consider parole for inmates serving consecutive sentences before their first term expires. Supported by the Department of Corrections, the bill was passed to counter the attorney general's opinion and was signed into law June 11 by Gov. Bob Graham.

Citing the bill and the existing law, the court said it was unmistakable that the Legislature intended the parole commission to release prisoners serving consecutive terms before their first terms had expired.

Although the opinion written by Justice Raymond Ehrlich did not order Lowry's release, it said the court was convinced that the commission would follow the law.